Report of Missouri Farmers' Week. 405 



Not only the west has been cleaning up, but the corn-belt 

 farmers have put a lot of their ewe flock "in the bank." The dry- 

 season of a year ago and high price of hay and grain forced many to 

 sell or almost give away the ewe at whatever price they could get. 



A glance at the market report for the thirteen principal mar- 

 kets for 1909-1910 shows an increase in sheep receipts of over 

 1,000,000, and for 1910-1911 another million increase, and the year 

 1912 shows a like increase. The number of sheep marketed was 

 increased from 10,000,000 for 1909 to 13,000,000 for 1912, and 

 from government statistics the number of sheep was decreased 

 from 52,000,000 to about 50,000,000. Truly, the sheep business 

 is getting on a stable basis. Another strong factor for the sheep 

 industry is the fact that the American people are eating more and 

 more mutton. The high prices of pork and beef forced many to 

 look for a cheaper meat, and so mutton was used by many. The 

 Americans have to be taught to cook and eat mutton, for pork and 

 beef have been the most used products. The city people have 

 learned the value of mutton and lamb, but the farmer uses very 

 little of it. Why he does not is hard to understand. Pork is his 

 standby in the meat line, but a little fresh lamb now and then 

 makes a delightful change. 



Missouri ranks as one of the foremost sheep states in the 

 corn belt, as rightfully she should. The natural advantages of this 

 State for the sheep business is unsurpassed by none. We have 

 Kansas City and St. Joseph on our western border, and as we are in 

 close touch with Omaha and Denver, so our opportunities for pur- 

 chasing western feeding sheep, lambs and breeding ewes are of the 

 best; while for the finished products we have the Kansas City 

 Stock Yards, the National Stock Yards of East St. Louis and the 

 Union Stock Yards of Chicago within easy reach. Our soil is rich 

 and produces an abundance of feed. We have the great Ozark 

 region, which will in time become a great sheep-breeding section. 

 The grass and water is good, and the land not of prohibitive price 

 for grazing purposes. And in the valleys enough corn and hay can 

 be raised to finish the products. 



In Central and North Missouri, sheep feeding is an important 

 factor with many of the farmers. Especially popular is the prac- 

 tice of pasturing out the undergrowth in. the cornfields. In most 

 cases cowpeas are sown with the corn to furnish feed for the 

 lambs. By some, the cowpeas are sown at the last cultivation of 

 the com, but unless the weather is exceptionally favorable the 



